In the first fall lunch talk from the Kernochan Center, Deputy Commissioner of the Nassau County Department of Social Services and Kernochan Center Board Member Rudy Carmenaty will lead a discussion on the history of Jackie Robinson's boundary breaking Major League Baseball debut.
Before 1947, the National Pastime, like much of the nation itself, had been segregated by race. On April 15th of that year, Major League Baseball took a dynamic step forward, attempting to address past injustices. At Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier playing first base for the Dodgers. The man who orchestrated Robinson’s debut was Brooklyn General Manager and Club President Branch Rickey. Rickey and Robinson were the ultimate double play combination. Their legacy began with a series of two contracts that forever altered the landscape of the game and of America. Both men were mavericks, and the revolution which they unleashed went far beyond the diamond. Rickey and Robinson took on entrenched attitudes and long-standing prejudices. Jackie Robinson’s shattering of the color line heralded a new age. But it did not come with the mere stroke of a pen. It was an ordeal of epic proportions. Rickey’s resolve and Robinson character and courage would be tested as was the nation’s founding ideal that “all men are created equal.”
Lunch will be provided. Audience members who are not students, faculty or staff of Columbia Law School are asked to RSVP to Samara Weiss at least 24 hours in advance of the event, or we may not be able to guarantee admission.
